I finally carved out the time to immerse myself in the world of Passivhaus!

In completing this intensive course on the finer details of designing and building to meet the very stringent energy requirements of Passivhaus – a German system that is arguable the most appropriate certification system for housing – M J | architecture is set to design the most energy efficient homes possible. A Passive House is a very energy efficient building which requires such a small amount of heat that it can be heated mainly by “passive” sources such as incoming sunlight and existing appliances. The ultimate consequence is as beneficial for the environment as it is for one’s pocketbook.

Did you know that heating, lighting and cooling is the major component of a buildings environmental impact over the total life cycle of the building? In the order of 85%! This means that while environmental products are good for indoor air quality they are by no means the answer to a ‘green’ building. Passivhaus avoids the greenwashing.